Cynthia Dill was born in Carmel, N.Y., and now lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. She earned a bachelor's from the University of Vermont in 1987 and a law degree from Northeastern University.

For 20 years Dill managed a small law office representing clients in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

After serving in local offices, Dill won a Maine House of Representatives seat in 2006 and became a state senator after a special election in 2011.

Outside of politics, Dill worked as the Director of the Common Cause Digital Democracy Project in Washington, and often works as an adjunct faculty member at Southern Maine Community College.

In August of 2011, Dill founded the Friends of the Maine Woods, a statewide organization that advocates for the study and creation of a Maine Woods National Park.

Dill is a member of the First Congregational Church of South Portland, where she taught Sunday school and is community volunteer.

She and her husband, Tom, have two children.

Cynthia Dill served on the Cape Elizabeth Town Council for two years before she was elected to Maine's House of Representatives in 2006, where she sponsored legislation that set the stage for expansion of broadband Internet service in underserved rural parts of the state.

In May 2011 Dill was elected to the Maine State Senate in a special election, winning with 68 percent of the vote.

An outspoken progressive who strongly favors implementation of the Affordable Care Act, union rights, increased spending for education and same-sex marriage, Dill has also staked out a position on a potentially explosive state issue: creating a national park in the northern expanse of the state. While popular with some conservation groups, the idea has been opposed by the state's congressional delegation and Legislature, and is unpopular in northern Maine.

Following the announcement in 2012 by Republican U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe that she would not seek a new term, Dill was drawn into the political vortex created by Snowe's departure. She announced her bid for the Senate race, briefly considered a bid for a U.S. House seat, but remained a Senate candidate and won a four-way Democratic primary with 44 percent of the vote.

In her campaign, Dill has publicly questioned her own party's perceived lack of commitment to her Senate race, and tried to paint independent frontrunner Angus King as a Washington insider who does not represent traditional Democratic values.

In August 2012 Dill urged Congress to approve the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. The 1994 anti-violence law provides millions of dollars to programs such as legal assistance for victims, enforcement of protection orders, transitional housing aid and youth prevention programs. Its 2005 reauthorization expired last year.

Dill also claimed a 100 percent rating for her legislative efforts by the Maine State Employees Union MSEA-SEIU, Maine's largest state workers' union.